Day 3
You set an alarm to remind you when the tickets for an event where your favorite musical artist or comedian would be performing opens up. You jump onto your computer to get in the electronic line to purchase tickets and hit “refresh” multiple times when suddenly you’re in! You secure floor seats for you and your three best friends, send them excited texts to save the date and start making travel plans. And then you wait…and wait…and wait.
Until finally the weekend arrives. You’re dressed up, have enjoyed a delicious meal beforehand, laughing and talking expectantly with your friends of all that tonight’s show will mean. You find your seats, the house lights lower and an entertainer you’re unfamiliar with is introduced, takes the stage and begins his act.
At first you find yourself impatient with the opening performer. He isn’t who you paid good money to see. His name isn’t even on the ticket. Is the headliner even there? But eventually you find yourself swaying to his baritone voice and lyrics and lose all track of time. Perhaps you even comment to one of your friends, “I could listen to this guy all night!”
Today we are introduced to Jesus’ opener, his cousin John the Baptizer. When asked who he is by Jewish priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem, he replies, “I’m just the opener, getting this crowd ready for the main event.”
Read John 1:19-28
Word had gotten back to the religious leaders in Jerusalem that a wild-haired man who wore camel’s hair clothes and ate locusts for snacks had gained a following amongst the Jewish commoners in Judea and along the Jordan River. He was even baptizing people! No one knew of his credentials, although some had heard that he was the only son of priest Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, born to them in old age. It seemed as though this rugged preacher appeared out of nowhere, but crowds were gathering around, hanging on his every word.
A group of leading Pharisees, experts in the understanding and observance of the Torah, dispatched priests and Levites to the Jordan to investigate the matter and most likely, shut the show down. When there was a break in the line of those desiring baptism by John, they asked, “Who are you?” John did not share his pedigree or the miraculous story of his birth, but instead denied being the Messiah, the Anointed, the Christ. “Okay, then what?” they asked, “Elijah?” Elijah never died, but was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11) and was expected to return “before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes, turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5-6) Though the Baptist resembled Elijah in his rugged lifestyle he emphatically denied that he himself was Elijah (though Jesus, understanding more about this than John, saw John as fulfilling the prophecy about Elijah and said as much in Matthew 11). John lastly denied being the Prophet Moses had spoken of in Deuteronomy 18.
Finally, frustrated by his stonewalling, the spies demanded, “Who are you, then?” (v 22) They needed something to take back to their supervisors and so far, John’s testimony had no substance. It was then that John testified, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord - just as Isaiah the prophet said.” (v 23) What he didn’t say was what comes next in Isaiah 40, “And the glory of the LORD will appear, and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is 40:5) The glory of the LORD is a technical term for God’s manifest presence with his covenant people. It was seen in the cloud in the wilderness (Ex 16:7, 10); it moved in to “fill” the tabernacle (Ex 40:34–35) and then the temple (1 Kings 8:11), where the worshipers could actually see it as smoke. At times God’s glorified presence was so thick the priests were unable to see to complete their duties in the temple. And now the gospel writer John asserts that this glory, the glory of the One and Only, was present in Jesus!
We learn more about John the Baptizer and the One he is opening for by what he doesn’t say than what he does. His testimony is clear: “The main act is in the green room, waiting to come on. I’m just getting the crowd ready. Pay attention so you don’t miss it!”
Big Picture Questions for Today:
* What about your testimony? What is your eyewitness account of what God has done in your life?
* Christian artist Terrian describes her testimony in the song by the same name, as hard to believe, even hard to receive the provision of life and love that God has provided. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and have been saved by His sacrificial death on the cross, you are a living, breathing, walking testimony: Living proof of what God has done.
* Today, look for the ways that the Lord has provided for, protected and empowered you, becoming your courage, your joy and your peace. Then look for an opportunity to share, “Look what the Lord has done…”
Pray and thank God for all that He has done for you. Ask Him to help you not miss Jesus in all of the busyness of your day.
